A bill that cleared the Legislature aims to prevent voter fraud at nursing homes and widen ballot access for elderly Texans. Somehow, politics didn’t get in the way.
85th Legislative Session
Posted in
State Government
Abbott OKs religious refusal of adoptions in Texas
Child welfare providers can use their “sincerely held religious beliefs” to decide what homes and services foster and adoptive children should receive.
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State Government
New law clears the way for driverless cars on Texas roads
Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill backed by auto manufacturers that explicitly allows autonomous vehicles to operate on Texas roads without a driver inside.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas Gov. Abbott signs bill to enforce reporting of police shootings
Starting in September, Texas law enforcement agencies could be fined $1,000 a day if they don’t report police shootings to the state in a timely manner.
Posted in
Public Education
Gov. Abbott signs bill overhauling A-F school, district ratings
A bill overhauling a future system to grade Texas schools and districts on an A-F scale is now law.
Posted in
Demographics
While Legislature passed “sanctuary” bill, E-Verify enforcement fell short
Though Texas has required state agencies and their contractors to verify the employment eligibility of their workers since 2014, efforts to put teeth behind that mandate failed again during the recent legislative session.
Posted in
Public Education
Straus needles Texas Senate on public education funding, “bathroom bill”
Speaking to hundreds of educators ahead of a special session packed with education bills, House Speaker Joe Straus chastised the Senate for underfunding school finance reform.
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State Government
North Texas mayors reject protectionist “Buy American” iron and steel bill
The mayors of Dallas and Fort Worth are siding with Canadian officials over the potentially negative impact a “Buy American” iron and steel measure could have on Texas-Canada trade relations.
Posted in
State Government
Analysis: Texas leaders couldn’t agree during the regular session. What’s changed?
Texas lawmakers will return to Austin in a month to take another swing at more than a dozen issues they couldn’t resolve during the regular legislative session. So what has changed?
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State Government
State removes license for eyebrow threaders (video)
The Texas Legislature passed a bill deregulating eyebrow threading, which has for years required practitioners in Texas to pay licensing fees and undergo hundreds of hours of unrelated cosmetology training.
